Turkey Day minus the turkey

We are a day ahead of all of you back home, so Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving, a day of thanks, a day of pilgrims, a day of feasts, a day of football, has to be one of my favorite holidays. It kicks off the holiday season, my favorite time of the year!

There are a few parallels between my current situation and those pilgrims from yesteryear. On one hand, you have a bunch of foreigners fighting everyday for survival in a world so alien. On the other, you have the pilgrims. I mean, they were all buddy buddy with the natives. They had Pocahontas, or was she in Jamestown. Okay I am kidding. We have it soooo easy.

We work from 3 to 11. They are strange hours. Zach did a little research and quickly found a wide arrange of different restaurants offering a Thanksgiving Day spread. The problem was that these buffets ALL started between 5 and 6 pm. We were SOL. We, as the pilgrims had done before us, decided to feast on what we had on hand. I sent out an e-mail to about 10 people. Meg, Doug, and I were the only ones at the meet up spot at the meeting time, everyone else no showed. We were going to head to Gecko's, a place that Zach picked out, but we didn't know how to get there without him. A familiar sign saved the disappointing turn out: Outback Steakhouse! It turned out that three others actually went to Gecko’s and we just missed them by a few minutes. I don’t know why they didn’t call us, but I am happy with our decision to go to Outback. Hey, if given the option of steak or turkey I’m pretty sure the pilgrims would’ve taken the latter. It’s not my fault they were struggling to survive grueling hardships. I had a glorious American meal, from (I think) an American chain with two great people.

Here is the most memorable part of the whole experience. Mind you, we are in a family restaurant. All restaurant chains play music. Italian chains play Frank Sinatra, seafood chains play Jimmy Buffet, and steakhouse chains are supposed to play country western music. Well, apparently that part of “Opening an Outback Franchise Manual” didn’t translate well in Korean. This particular store was playing hip-hop. I was tempted to write blasting hip-hop, but I thought that might be a little over kill. Now, after looking back at that sentence, playing hip hop at a loud level sounds just about perfect. Strange I know, but it gets stranger. They were playing un-edited hip-hop. Needless to say, there was a lot of cursing going on in a pretty nice restaurant. Teachers like me must not be doing a good job because no one seemed to notice at all. It was very weird. The service was great. The waiter spoke English, and was there for our every beckoning. I use to think tipping makes servers better, because they strive for a bigger tip. But the service over here is just great, and we never have to tip. This debunks my entire theory. Also, the fast food is better over here (except for the French Fries, which are often not fresh). The sandwiches are more consistent and very fresh, so it might just be that the Korean workforce is better. I don’t know.

Random Thought: The only place I have seen turkey over here is Quizzno's. They never have any deli meats besides ham. Pork, chicken, and beef are the only meat options.

Update:
10 more days until two of Meg’s friends come to Seoul! Meg got three recruits for the December term.

If Mizzou beats KU this weekend, and the winner of the Big 12 South the following weekend, then they will get a great BCS bowl game. The Fiesta!!! All is not lost, but that Oklahoma State loss at home still stings.

DYK- I am now an author of three books. These are work books, but they have been published. I am kind of a big deal. Working on a fourth as we speak. Meg, by the way, might be published in a magazine called Working Abroad. Here is the address.

Poker Tuesday: I got third, 5th, and 2nd place out of 6 people this past Tuesday.

We are heading to the DMZ this weekend. I'll tell you all about it next week.

Here are some funny pics

I got sidetracked today. Here are some funny pics I found.

Shocking

My students will often say explicit words in class. I have heard that the most exported words in the English language are okay and other four letter words. I feel like a parent in these situations. How should I discipline these youngsters for cussing? Do they know what the word means and how offensive it is? I always try to uphold a decent classroom, meaning I try to make it a good learning environment, so I usually scold them while trying to educate them on the word they just used.

One of my fellow co-workers had quite the amusing story today. Her students were supposed to pick emotions, and then act them out like Gestures. One little boy, a nine year old, picked the emotion shocked. He then yelled, "Oh Fuck!" He then proceeded to grab his own throat and strangle himself. He was then dead. That was his act. Shocked would be the right emotion, especially for the teacher! How do you discipline that? Where do you begin?

Alright here is a list of how people have gotten to this site via google searches. These are the only ones I have documented. This is just interesting to me probably.

• If you type in Brookersider Bar

This is funny. I misspelled the bar name. It's Brooksider. Someone else made the same mistake and wound up here. Worst mistake of their life.

• dumaytravels

Easy enough right. Someone was looking for this blog. You have to type it all in one word though.

• imos pizza posnanski

This is just a funny search. Imos pizza is my favorite pizza in the world, and Posnanski is my favorite writer who happens to hate Imos. This was also a random search.

• Korean skyscrappers 2008 pusan

Well, once again there is a mistake in my writing, and the searchers. Pusan is officially (I think) spelled Busan. And of course I misspelled skyscrapers.

The moral of this is: make sure you have the right spellings of what you are searching for or you could end up in a dead end site like this!!!

Random Tidbits

• The bartender that trained me way back in the day at ol' Longhorn has moved on to bigger and better things. He has started a website that I find very interesting. Check out this video of what food looks like in heaven. Not bad production values chef Billy.
• We had our first snow in Seoul, so yeah it's cold. It was more of a rain snow, but I saw flakes none the less. Here is my question to you: Do Seoul's massive skyscraper's help reduce wind or make it worse? That is the million dollar question that keeps me up at night.
• The Rave

Well, I've done it. I finally had a big club experience. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be like. We got their too early at around 10:00, not a good thing when the cheapest drink on the menu is 7 dollars. The dance floor reminded me of a video game, namely Sims. Everyone was about evenly spaced, just dancing to the music the same way, and there was no interaction. Some people were looking at the DJ and some were looking at the guests coming into the club. It just looked awkward. By about 1:00 at night, it was hard to walk.

The funniest thing of the night came early. We were debating where we wanted to go in the club, when a Korean lady approached us. This club is loud, really loud. It is so loud that North Korea could drop nuke on Seoul, and I would not hear it. You could stand six inches away from me and yell in my ear, and I simply could not hear what you said. So this young lady walks up to Meg and starts yelling something. She then offers me her hand, and I shake it. She then yells, "You can dance on the speakers!" After she left, I looked at Meg and yelled, "Where are these speakers she's talking about?"

I am not going to lie, I was moderately interested in dancing on some big speakers. Meg just stared at me with a puzzled look, "What speakers? She said, she's here to help English Speakers!"

So, yeah it was loud. I had a buzzing in my ears for the next two days! The next morning I swore off big clubs. The 9th best DJ in the world, had opening acts, and didn't get on stage till like 2:30 am.* I didn't know DJ's had opening acts. Apparently, they're kind of a big deal. He came out, (should I reword that) and was good, but I can't tell if he was any better than the three spinners before him. Whatever. My ears hurt, my dancing shoes were broken, (due to this electronic dance pop garbage) and those seven dollar shots of tequila were settling in, so I decided to save my good dance moves for another day. We left around 4 a.m.

I felt like Dorthy just writing that sentence, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." Bars close before 2:30 back home, and things just start getting good at 2:30 here. Yes, I am a long ways from home.

The next day I woke up, as you can imagine, in a pretty grim state. I sauntered down to Meg's room only to find her gone, but she left me a note. She was gone to buy some boots for winter. I then flipped on the television. Here's the deal: we only get one channel in English. It's called AFN. It stands for the Armed Forces Network, if it isn't obvious enough for you, then it's for the military.

I have no idea how they pick the shows they do, but whatever they pick we're stuck with, because it's the only channel in English. Weekday afternoon's it's Judge Judy, Dr Phil, and soap operas. At night it's Jay Leno, David Letterman, and Craig I can't spell his last name. This particular morning I flipped on the tele to find Extreme Makeover Home Edition. And, wow, all I got to say is that show should come with a disclaimer: "All masculinity will be thrown out the window, while watching this show. Men, leave now the room now if your credibility could in anyway be jeopardized." or "Go to a dark place by yourself, and never talk about what happened."

So, and I blame my condition, a condition of ringing ears, hunger, grogginess, and a small headache. But that show got to me. This little girl had cancer, and her days were limited, but she was a fighter. She thought that she was going to beat it again for the second time. She also went to the hospital to help other children. She meant so much to her family, and her family and given up everything to help her battle cancer. So I'm watching this sensitive stuff early in the morning, and I battling not to lose it.

There are no other channels, so flipping the channel is not an option. Turning the TV off was an option, but I wanted to see that damn house finished. The emotional music cued and I welled up like Dick Vermiel. Extreme Makeover Home Edition and Armageddon are cemented in my do not watch list around other people, yet I have just disclosed this information to the ten people who read this thing.

• Poker Night

Last Tuesday was our first poker night. There were six people in my room all playing Texas Hold-em. After reading the table and its patrons, I knew that there were two good players, one novice, (me) and two newbies. It was a five dollar buy-in tournament, with an option to buy back in, and I managed to get second place in the tournament without having to buy back in. I was happy. The winner was going to pay for a cab to McDonald's. I went in my closet to grab a sweater. The sweater I pulled out was like two sizes to small, and it had a little hole on the arm. Apparently, just like a high maintenance woman, my sweater travelled very poorly, so I sold it to John for a Big Mac.

The best trade I ever made in my life! John ended up wearing the sweater to work the next day. Here is his story:
kids- Teacher did you get a new sweater?
John- Yes
kids- then why does it have a hole in it?
John- Well, I bought someone a big mac for it.

That's just funny.

• Meg and I saw the movie Taken. We went to it with out any reviews of the movie. In fact, we didn't even know what it was about period. We didn't have any expectations, so we were pleasantly surprised. Plus it's fun to make up your own opinions without any influence from others. I am going to try and see more movies this way.
• Meg got another side job offered to her. I'm starting to think I might be dating a star. A recruiter offered her the chance to tutor a Chief Operating Officer for LG. She will get paid like 40 dollars an hour while working two hours a week, if she chooses to accept. That will be her second side hustle.

I am sorry to hear that Cotton passed away. He was a good dog for many, many years.

Paepaero

Here is a funny exchange I just had with a Korean:


Me: "Samantha, how do you spell Paepaero?"


Samantha: "Pae..."


Me: "What?"


Samantha:"Pae...Pae...Ro"


Me: "One more time"


Samantha: Pae...Pae...Write this down...Ro. Maybe* Pae Pae Lo sounds better.


Me: PaePaeRo or PaePaeLo?


Samantha: PaePaeRo.


So as you can see sometimes you have to be patient. Remember, Korean's say their B's and P's remarkably similar, so the whole time in my head I thought that this was Baebaero day. B's and P's are similar phonetically, so I can understand this mistake. They also say l's and r's the same, and I have no idea why those letters are hard for them.





*Maybe. This is one of the most commonly used words by Koreans. They use it to begin half their sentences. It has different meaning too. I have yet to fully grasp all the meanings that maybe can connotate. Sometimes it means yes, sometimes no, sometimes it's what they want to do, "Maybe, go to Seoul Pub and then Lofts." and sometimes it's what they think you want to hear, "Maybe, fried chicken." I don't get it.





Needless to say, I am not very confident that I spelled this holiday correctly. Paepaero is a cracker stick coated in chocolate. This holiday was set up by a company every 11/11 to sell more chocolate. This is a brilliant marketing device, but pretty shameless at the same time. I felt conflicted buying these chocolate sticks for Meg. On one hand, I want to take part in Korean culture, but I don't really like the concept of this particular holiday. It's like Valentine's Day, you exchange crackers with crushes and friends.



Okay, Samantha just brought over a box of the candy coated sticks, it's PePeRo. She claims, "it's spelled wrong." Translation can be a fickle thing, but I am siding with Lotte on this one, Samantha.



Think about this: every major holiday is consumer driven. If it's not consumer driven then it's not a real popular holiday. Christmas you buy gifts, Thanksgiving you buy food, Halloween you buy candy, Valentine's Day (Mother's and Father's Day too) you go out to eat, Easter you buy crap, and even holidays like Labor and Memorial day you go on a vacation or have a BBQ. Martin Luther King's day, Veteran's Day, and Earth Day are holidays off the top of my head that aren't consumer driven. These holiday's have great reasons for existence, they just don't get a lot of attention. Okay, that's the rambling thought of the month.



Meg is doing great work with her "side hustle". She has about six candidates lined up. I think she really likes recruiting. She loves it here, and I think her enthusiasm rubs off on others. It is remarkable really, in about ten days she has 6 recruits! Keep it up Meg and you can buy me a computer for Christmas! It might also have something to do with the current conditions in America too. I read that it takes around five months for the average unemployed job seeker to find employment. College loans start up in 6 months so that's cutting it pretty close.


This weekend Meg and I are going to see the 9th best DJ in the world, according to DJ Mag. This should be an interesting experience. I have NEVER been a real club guy, but I have never been to a rave either! Here is his website.

Lastly here is pic of a Pepero stand.

The Halloween

Halloween isn't just a child's holiday, I quickly learned this in college. With men salivating every October it's no wonder why this has become one of the most popular holidays, the chocolate is just so good! The real reason of course is the naughty nurses, naughty teachers, naughty librarians, and well, you get the picture, Halloween is an excuse for ladies to dress promiscuous, causing me to pledge a faithful alliance to the dark holiday. Somewhere along the history of this holiday, women got the idea to take advantage of the costume thing.

As I have come to learn, many things are opposite here in Korea, the best example being nay. Nay means no in English, here it means yes. Patrolling the streets of Seoul on Halloween night, something just didn't add up t. The air was chilly, there was defiantly excitement in the air, but something was just off. Was it pumpkins, leaves cahnging there colors, or candy? Or, colud it of been the fact that men had less clothing on than women. I saw Micheal Phelps clad in just a speedo, swim cap, and eight chocolate gold medals. I saw some Asian man wearing a diaper and huge angel wings. So the men wore less than the women, and that's not even counting the skimpy little number I was wearing!

Say hello to the new President of America Meg!

Fan Death to the left

Peace Man

The Pros and Cons of Teaching in Korea

Here is a pro and cons list of coming to Korea:

Pros

1. This is a continuation of college, by that I mean little responsibility.
2. The compensation is more than sufficient. The cost of living in Seoul is very affordable. The only expensive thing in Seoul is the real estate, which happens to be taken care of by the teaching academies/public schools. It is very easy to get by, here's an example of a typical night out: 1 dollar subway ride to your destination, 8 dollar nice dinner, (drinks are $2.50-3.50) and then a taxi ride home split between people usually costs around 4 dollars.* So depending on how much you drink, it's very reasonable.
3. No expenses- You have to fork up about 100 dollars every month in utilities, that's it. Think about the savings, no car payment, no car insurance, no gasoline, and no rent. Health insurance is very cheap, and I have a ten dollar a month cell phone plan.
   
4. Save Money- see above. Many people I have run across have saved money for master programs or more schooling when they go back home. If you're thinking about extending your education, this would be a great place to get a head start.
5. Pay College Loans- Get a good start paying back those ugly monsters.
6. Seoul- Seoul is the second biggest city in the world. It's huge. There is stuff going on all the time.
7. Learn a new culture and language- talk about expanding your horizons, Asia is the on the opposite side of the culture spectrum than western culture.
8. Travel- See the rest of this side of the world. If I don't get to visit two other countries on this experience, I will be extremely disappointed in myself. First up, Thailand and Laos!
9. The Resume- Employers want to see global experience and while this might not be the ideal experience, it is an experience none the less.
10. Good Job- There is minimal stress related when working this job. It's easy and it can be fun.

*While it is hard to spend a lot of money in Korea, it can be done. The majority of streets in Seoul have claw machines. These are really bright and big claw machines. The prizes aren't just stuffed animals, these aren't kids claw machines. The prizes are fancy butane lighters and cell phones and then they have random prizes like underwear. Crazy I know. Last night, I was walking down the street with about seven guys. We ran into a street carnival, equipped with air guns, punching bags, (You basically wind-up and hit the bag as hard as possible, and it rates your punch, on a scale of 1000) and other carny games.

The punching bag was a money drainer to say the least. With that much testosterone in a ten foot radius, money was flying in that machine to see who could hit the bag the hardest. After about 6 dollars (split between us) we learned that there is some strategy to it. A straight stiff, straight right was our model. After about 8 dollars and a nearly broken wrist, I had the high score at 8942. But the high score ever was 9357, (I'm speaking for myself here, but I think we wanted that high score or at least 9000.) so after 15 dollars and sore wrists the group moved on to head butting the bag for bragging rights. This is of course after playing darts for about three hours. I have never been around such competitive people in my life! After twenty dollars, sore wrists, and headaches the group disbanded to go home. Here was the summary of my spending on that night: 1 buck for the subway, 1 dollar for the street corn dog, 1.50 for the chicken on a stick, 4 dollars for darts, 10 dollars for beer, 3 dollars for the bag, 5 dollars for the taxi to McDonald's, and $6.75 at Mikey D's. 4 hot cakes, a Sausage Egg McMuffin, and hash browns always end the night with an explanation mark!* 30 dollars for all that fun, and the majority of the expenses were not necessary by any means! I have a sprained wrist to prove it.

Wait, the asterisk was going to be about how taxi's are so cheap. You could go to Columbia from Kansas City for 40 dollars in a taxi, based on Seoul taxi rates. No probably not, but you can go from one end of Seoul to the other for 20 bucks. Not bad at all, especially with five people in the cab. Then, remember that the cabs are basically roller coasters, that's worth the price of admission alone.

**McDonald's has the best breakfast fast food. I just want to quash the debate that Hardee's is better right now! Actually, my wrist hurts maybe another time.

Cons

1. Teaching kids can be frustrating. It tests your patience. Sometimes you have to sing and dance to get any reactions at all, and other times you have to slam fists on desks to get them to stop talking.
2. Seoul- This is a big city. It has some dirty aspects about it. The sidewalk etiquette is absurd, just awful.
3. Korean's have poor manners. They are in a hurry and will bump into to you. This is a future post.
4. THE WON- The won has lost 20% of it's value to the dollar this year and is extremely volatile. Things are looking better, because the won was down like 32%. This will undercut your savings if this performance doesn't hange.
5. Homesick- This isn't the States/whatever your home is. I have not watched one Chiefs or Royals game and just one MU game in 3 and 1/2 months. The food, while extremely delicious, can be boring after awhile. It would be similar to eating Mexican food everyday for 3 months. That sounds like it would be very good, but trust me, it'll get old after a while. There are a few ethnic restaurants. The driving can be scary. It just takes a little bit of adjustment.
6. North Korea could blow up Seoul. Not likely at all, that's what I tell myself at least, and we have a spot in the subway with a shank and canned food and bottled water, and...

Alright here is my summation: My generation is not going to be able to retire... ever, or at the best case scenario 85, so why not take advantage of youth and do something bold. Korean's have generally liked me, and they generally like Americans. America is the reason South Korea is what it is today, it's easy to rail on America's wars in the Middle East, but it worked here in Korea. The average South Korean is three inches taller than the average North Korean. They have a good life because of American intervention, and there's a token amount of respect for that reason. Sometimes I'm completely shocked at how I get treated, I have received tons of free stuff, I stayed with a family in a Buddhist temple, and random people want to get their picture taken with me. I'm just an ordinary Joe, too.

I have the rest of my life to figure out what I want to do, and I know that a cubicle is not in my calling right now. Just like the stock market, my emotions on Korea can be a roller coaster, but there is no doubt in my mind that this has been a good idea.